Here's a list of 20 things you can use it for.

http://ecosalon.com/20-unusual-uses-for-vinegar-253/

I've been using vinegar lately to clean up copper items. After a few hours, or overnight if I forget, the copper is nice and pink clean. I've also used it to clean rust and scale off steel to good effect. I keep a gallon in the shop and it is labelled as not being a food product, not that anyone would think bringing food into my shop is a good idea.

Old car painters used to use vinegar to etch the car before primer and paint . I have never tried this before, but I understand that this works wonders in adhereing the paint to the body .

On top of what's been said.....

Put vinegar in the freezer. The water in the vinegar freezes before the acetic acid, thus if you pour off the remaining liquid, it is much stronger.

Vinegar is real good at killing weeds, but breaks down quicker than commercial weed killer.

Vinegar is real good at killing weeds, but breaks down quicker than commercial weed killer.

The fastest acting thing I ever used on poison ivy! If I get a small plant I pour about a pint over it so the soil is wet with vinegar around it. The next day it is wilted and drying, and doesn't come back.

Of course this doesn't work for large patches of the stuff, I get the roundup poison ivy killer out.

Phil

Unrelated to smithing I put vinegar in a rusty motorbike tank and let set for four days. Put the vinegar back in the orginal jugs and put some acetone in tank to vaporize . Air dried and filled with gasoline. I was leary, but it worked.

vinegar and steel wool can also be used to give new wood and old look. Im a timber framer/ log home builder by trade and have used it on lots of frames where we were trying to match new material to old reclaimed stuff.

Cool stuff I will have to try a few out soon!

"Freeze vinegar in an ice cube tray and grind them up in the disposal to clean and sharpen the blades at the same time."




whaaat. ...Sharpen the blades?

Get a zoom spout oiler ( plastic bottle with extendable spout and red cap ). Pour the oil out into an old large prescription bottle you may find somewhere or something else like an old cottage cheese container (or out the waste oil cal if you wish). Swish a bit of vinegar in the zoom spout oiler and dump. Fill the oiler with vinegar. You now have a tool to put mircrodots of vinegar where you may want them. Small rusty areas are cleaned nicely this way. I saw a nice tool yesterday that is used for gluing models together. Glass tube with a flexible hypodermic on the end. Should have bought one and tested it. Many times a small drop of vinegar is all that is needed to get things moving right again or to remove a rusty spot. I normally follow up with LPS 1 or Kroil to lube and preserve (this of course not on files ).

Mr Smith, consider your idea stolen. I will try it. thank you.

I soaked this in Vinegar for a few days, scrubbed it clean and seasoned it like a cast iron pan. My mom wants to use it to make sausage and a few other things.

Old thread, but found this interesting as I just took the last few rusty tools out of my container of vinegar just yesterday.  It does a a great job on light rust, but isn't so great on heavy rust.  The problem is that it attacks the parent metal as well, so you have to be careful with certain tools as you don't want dimensions reduced.  I find that for heavier rust removal, electrolysis is a better solution.

I didn't see it mentioned (maybe I missed it), but one really good use for vinegar is "sharpening" files.  Take an old file that doesn't seem to be cutting well anymore, or buy up all those clapped out looking ones at yard sales for cheap and drop them in vinegar for a day or two, wire brush them and in many cases they cut like new!

I've found that it works well on most rust, but it's not magic. Anything I can't get off in a full day of soaking or less, I hit with the wire brush or try another method.  Works pretty well with the addition of that.  Also, don't you just love that sulphurous smell that you get with iron and vinegar?  Heavier stuff you can also try molasses.  Get the cheap, industrial stuff from the Feed Store or some such.  I thought my leg was being pulled the first time I heard it.

For files, I like muriatic, but much shorter times, and you have to give a rinse after with some baking soda.

Yes, the smell is pretty horrendous.  I haven't tried muriatic on files, but I guess it's the same process, just faster.  Even with the vinegar, I have a bucket with a solution of water and baking soda to dunk them in, then dry with a rag and then a hair dryer followed by a good dousing in WD40.  If the parts are chrome plated, like sockets or wrenches, I like to use car paste wax on them.  My barn isn't heated so tends to get pretty humid.  I've found the automotive wax does a really good job keeping the rust away.  I use T-9 Boeshield on cast iron and metal woodworking tools, table saw surface, drill press platens, lathe, etc as it doesn't contain any silicones or teflons and won't ruin wood for finishing.  It's just a bit pricey so I use the automotive wax an tools and metal that aren't used for the woodworking.

I also use a brass brush when cleaning the parts from the vinegar and it frequently leaves a thin goldish finish.  I wonder if that minuscule amount of brass all over the part has any rust inhibiting properties?  I might try a little test just for S&Gs.  I'm guessing it probably won't, but I have nothing to lose by testing it.

I collected a couple buckets of black walnuts a few years ago, after de-husking them I crushed the hulls and added a gallon of mineral oil, poured off the oil after a week filtered it and had a nice walnut stain.